Bendable tongue attaching device



Sept. 29, 1953 w. H. CHURCHILL 2,653,687

BENDABLE TONGUE ATTACHING DEVICE Filed June 15, 1949 14 \NVENTOR:

FlG- WlLMER H. CHURCH\LL,

22 Y ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 29, 1953 2 UNITED STATE-S orifice IBENBABLE TONGUEarrnomne DEVICE "Wilmer ngichtihiii; Welle'sleyj massgtassignor p toUnited barr Fastener"Corporation; Cam= Y "bridge; Mas's m' "cbrporationor Massacmimts P -np 1icati n-.Iune.is, 1949; serial-Nahum (ci-ist -xe)This invention relates N securing articles such as moldings and-the liketo a supporting plate whereaccess maybe had to one side only of theplate. I

- An object of my inventionis'the provisionof a one-piece fastenermember havinga basewith article-engaging means'extending on One side ofthe base and support-engaging means extending on the other side;Theinvention relates pare ticularly to the construction of thesupport-engaging meanswhich are of simple andinexpensive form comprisinga hook-like element for engagingone-side wall of aplate opening and aflat lugdisposed entirely onone side of the base and' designed tobe-deformed by-a -suitable-tool to I lock behind the plate adjacent aside wall of the plate opening opposite'that engaged bythe hook-likeelement. While fastener members are known in the art providing ahook-like element and a deforming element; theseflare relatively morecomplicated in design and more-expensive to tool; -A fastener of thepresent invention is very simple in construction:yet capab1e ofefficientdocking attachment toa supporting-plate;

Other-objects ofmyinvention will bewap'par ent to persons skilled intheart to"which'=the invention relates from a consideration ofthemcompanyin'g 'drawing and annexed specification illustrating anddescribing a preferred form of theinvention.

Referring to the-drawing whichI have illustrated in my preferredembodiment of my invention: I

Fig.1 is'a'top plan view oi"my-;improv'cl-.-fastener member; I 7

Fig. 2 is a section 'takenaiong' the line 2-2 of Fig.1 and showingthemethod by whihfthe fastener member is secured" to a supporting panel;

Fig. 3 is asection'sim'ilar to Fig; "2 showing'the fastener member infinal attachment to the panel;

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the tool preferably used to secure the fastenermember to a supporting panel; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

The fastener member I as shown in the drawing is formed of one-piecerelatively soft metal such as cold rolled steel and provides a baseportion 2. Article-gripping elements extend from the base portion on oneside thereof and comprise in my preferred form an angularly bent afastener device for elemefitfip'rdjectmg" out or the plane of the baseat one endthreof and 'a 'camming' element 4 at an'pppositefend of thehasef'rom thefelefiient The elements 3 and 4 are designed to ngage aconventional hblldwni'olding 5 to Secureit to"th'e suDbr-tingpane1' '6to which the fastener member I iS attached. 'I h attaching method'in'tl'lghtbydfld'e elements's and 4 are old i'n'the artand operate toenable one edge"! of the houow molding to be 'in se'fted'iunde'r theangman y tndingl'ement 3 so jasto restjupon the ld ge'ffi adjacent the'efid "'df thebase' 2 after which theother edges of the'inolding'is'ca'mmed over the camming element 4 to engage behind theshblilde'r lbbfth element 4." In this method of attacnnientmost of-"the resiuencwhich enables thefmcming to be snapped into engagenieiitwithth'ei'astnerisprovided by theniolding itself. It is understood thatI do not wish to limitiny invention tofthis 'forhi of articleattacliingmeans because 'the fastener 'is' capable ofproviding other constructionswithout departing fron'ith'e spirit of theinventior'i fThesupport-ngagiiig'ineans of the fastener member which" are adapte tobe disposed thrcsugii'arectanguiartpenmg H "of the supporting panel 6 toengage se'cii'rely'the 'supportcomprise "a hook elem nt .1 2 and a"deformable lock- Big element in thel'ioriii ofa'lug l3 which is spacedllaterally'from he "element l2; Thehook aement I2 "is struck iofii"themateria1 of'the base'iiand pr""ects outwardlyfrom the base on the side"away: hem "the article-attaching elements? and"4 atianangle offabout 45degrees with respect tofthewa's'e 2; [The "lug shaped locking'e'lein'entf3 is also strueknom thematerial of thebase and extends foutwardlyf'r'omthe base ontnesame side as the hook "element [2 at an anglewh"napproachs degrees with respect to the basel"The lugeleinent l'3whichis formed from the relatively soft material of the fastener isdeformable so as to be bent along a transverse line disposed at a pointspaced from the base a distance substantially equal to the thickness ofthe supporting panel 6. In order to insure that the lug bends at pointssubstantially along the aforesaid line, a stiffening rib I4 is providedon the lug which extends from the outermost free end of the lug to apoint substantially adjacent the line along which the lug is designed tobend.

In securing the fastener member to the supporting panel 6 the attachingelements I 2 and I 3 are inserted through the opening ll of the panel soas to be disposed with the hook element I2 engaging a corner wall I5 ofthe opening I I and the lug element I3 extending through the openingsubstantially adjacent the opposite wall I6. Next, a deforming tool I1is moved through the opening I8 of the base 2 from which material wastaken to form the lug I3. The tool H has a body I9 providing an abutment20 adapted to engage the upper side of the base 2 and a deformingportion 2| which extends from the body 20 through the opening I8 of thebase. The deforming portion 2| provides a narrow shank 22 having alaterally extending foot portion 23 at its end. In operation of the toolto lock the fastener to the supporting panel, the tool is disposed ininitial position with the foot portion in substantially paralleladjacent relation to the lug element I3 as shown in Fig. 2. Then, thetool is rotated in a counterclockwise direction viewing Fig. 2 as aresult of which the foot 23 presses the lug element I3 outwardly andupwardly so that it takes a position substantially as shown in Fig. 3 ingenerally parallel relation to the supporting panel with its outer end24 in substantial engagement with the lower surface 25 of the panel. Asa result of this deforming action the hook element I2 and the deformedlug I3 cooperate to secure the fastener firmly to the panel. It will beseen that the attaching method hereinabove described utilizes attachingelements which are very simple in construction and which require only asimple handoperated tool to effect a secure locking attachment.

Although I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited thereby as the scope of theinvention is best defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A fastener device comprising a base portion having at least twospaced openings therein, said base portion having means on one facethereof for fastener engagement with a part to be secured by saidfastener, and attaching means extending from the opposite face of saidbase for securing said fastener device to a supporting part having anaperture, said attaching means comprising a tongue cut from the materialof said base portion and extending integrally from the side edge of oneof said openings adjacent to the other of said openings, said tonguebeing disposed at an angle to said base portion in superposed relationto said one opening to provide a hook for engagement behind a supportingpart through an aperture therein, and a second tongue out from thematerial of said base portion and extending integrally from the sideedge of said other opening opposite the side edge thereof nearest saidone opening and entirely beyond the same face of said base as said firsttongue, a reinforcing rib formed in said second tongue extendinglongitudinally thereof and terminating short of the junction of saidtongue with said base, said second tongue extending substantially normalto said base to permit it to enter an aperture in a support adjacent oneedge of such aperture while said first tongue is hooked over an oppositeedge of such an aperture, said second tongue being adapted upon suchinsertion to be bent upon a transverse line to underlie such a supportat such one edge.

2. A fastener installation including a supporting panel having anaperture and a fastener device comprising a base portion having at leasttwo openings therein, said base portion having means on one face thereoffor fastener engagement with a part to be secured by said fastener andattaching means extending from the opposite face of said base securingsaid fastener device to said supporting panel, said attaching meanscomprising a tongue out from the material of said base portion andextending integrally from the side edge of one of said openings adjacentto the other of said openings, said tongue being disposed at an angle tosaid base portion in superposed relation to said one opening to providea hook for engagement behind said supporting panel through the aperturetherein, and a second tongue out from the material of said base portionand extending integrally from the side edge of said other openingopposite the side edge thereof nearest said one opening into theaperture of said supporting panel adjacent an opposite edge thereof, areinforcing rib formed in said second tongue extending longitudinallythereof and terminating short of the junction of said tongue with saidbase, said second tongue prior to assembly of said fastener device withsaid panel extending substantially normal to said base to permit it tobe inserted into the aperture in the support panel adjacent saidopposite edge of said aperture while said first tongue is hooked oversaid one edge of said aperture, said second tongue upon such insertionbeing bent upon a transverse line to underlie said support paneladjacent said opposite edge thereof.

WILMECR H. CHURCHILL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,970,335 Place Aug. 14, 1934 2,168,721 Tinnerman Aug. 8, 19392,319,678 Hall May 18, 1943 2,404,372 Hallock July 23, 1946 2,460,722Waara Feb. 1, 1949 2,476,207 Brown July 12, 1949 2,511,805 Kral June 13,1950

